Town Square

ISRAEL

Original post made
by Jag Singh, Duveneck/St. Francis,
on Jan 18, 2007

There has been extremely disturbing reports that Israel has dramatically expanded its ethnically cleansing of the West Bank and Gaza by effectively denying the return of nationals of Palestinian origin. This breaking news was reported by an eminent Israeli human rights attorney (Leah Tsemel) and a Palestinian-American filmmaker (Suzy Salamy) who was detained by Israeli officials and subsequently deported. Thousands have been denied entry into the Occupied Territories effectively splitting families apart, disrupting students in their educational pursuits and torpedoing business activities. Sam Bahour, a prominent Palestinian-American businessman, confirmed that, in addition to freezing visitation rights, Israel was blocking the infusion of capital and entrepreneurs to ensure that the Palestinians would remain in a state of abject poverty and economic misery. Anita Abdullah, a researcher at Birzeit University, Institute of Community and Public Health, reported that approximately 50% of students and faculty have been denied reentry seriously disrupting academic programs. Contrast these racist attitudes, with Israel's open-door policy to Jews who are granted full citizenship rights regardless of their country of origin. The Israeli human rights group B'tzelem, confirmed that the sinister intentions of Israel is to stunt the growth of the Palestinian population by "preventing the entry of spouses and children of residents, and by stimulating emigration from the area."

Posted by SilverBullet
a resident of Midtown
on Jan 19, 2007 at 10:10 am

How irresponsible to write something like that with no link to any supporting evidence or article. I think it is really offensive to accuse the one Jewish nation on the planet earth of "ethic cleansing," a term that is usally associated with genocide. Jag, you should be ashamed of yourself. This one was really low. Peace is never possible when people spread hateful, anti-Jewish rumors such as this.

"We have prevailed over the invading Arab armies and the local population, which was practically evicted from Palestine, from the state of Israel, from what became the state of Israel, and this is how the refugee problem was born."

Posted by Draw the Line
a resident of Stanford
on Jan 20, 2007 at 7:52 am

And more from your same site.

"The official version said that the balance of power was in favor of the Arabs; the "new historians" said that Israel had the advantage both in manpower and in arms

The official version said that the Arabs had a coordinated plan to destroy Israel; the "new historians" said that the Arabs were divided

The official version said that Arab intransigence prevented peace; the "new historians" said that Israel is primarily to blame for the dead end. [1]"

These guys are a joke. Ever go into the historical museum in East Berlin before the fall of the wall? Looks like this kind of revisionism.

Sorry, the rest is so absurd...claiming that tiny Israel had superior MANPOWER against all the surrounding stataes is so ridiculous.

Claiming that the surrounding Arab states were divided in their desire to destroy Israel in the face of not having even ONE Arab state accept Israel belongs on the map of the world until recently..such silliness invalidates everything else these guys say.

Even the map in the office of the now-ex (thankfully) Head of UN Kofi Annan didn't have Israel on it.

Sorry, these guys are a joke.

I will believe that the surrounding countries are serious about peace when they acknowledge the right of Israel to exist. Until then, nothing they say or do has meaning to me, because they will settle only for one thing, which is the annhilation of Israel.

I look forward to when and if Iraq acknowledges the right of Israel to exist. Let's see if being a democracy brings the will of the population to bear. I believe it will.

Posted by Walter_E_Wallis
a resident of Midtown
on Jan 20, 2007 at 8:01 am

My advice for the young Palestinian man. "Go East, young man, and make a nation for yourself instead of trying to steal someone else's." Building is so much better than destroying and so much more mature.

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